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Staples Inc. (SPLS): Today's Featured Specialty Retail Laggard

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

Staples (
SPLS) pushed the Specialty Retail industry lower today making it today's featured Specialty Retail laggard. The industry as a whole closed the day down 1.7%. By the end of trading, Staples fell 42 cents (-3.6%) to $11.29 on average volume. Throughout the day, 17.5 million shares of Staples exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 15.5 million shares. The stock ranged in price between $11.23-$11.75 after having opened the day at $11.64 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $11.71. Other companies within the Specialty Retail industry that declined today were:
Hollywood Media Corporation (
HOLL), down 8.3%,
1-800 Flowers.com (
FLWS), down 5.8%,
Big five Sporting Goods Corporation (
BGFV), down 5.4%, and
United Online (
UNTD), down 4.6%.

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Staples, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an office products company. The company offers various office supplies and services, office machines and related products, computers and related products, and office furniture under Staples, Quill, and other proprietary brands. Staples has a market cap of $8 billion and is part of the services sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 8.9, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are down 15.6% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday. Currently there are six analysts that rate Staples a buy, one analyst rates it a sell, and eight rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Staples as a
hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its attractive valuation levels, good cash flow from operations and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, poor profit margins and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself.